Ageless
by MsKennaJean
Summary: Tony Stark is one of the few celebrities at his age that hasn't met his soulmate yet. Juliette Morrow is just trying to finish her last 3 semesters at NYU to get to her Masters in Library Science. When he meets her on campus, the sparks fly...much to her dismay.
1. Prologue

Chapter 0.5: Prologue

It was always a bedtime story parents told their children. When the Souls split long ago, everyone was born with half a soul. The story had been changed so many times through the generations, the origins had been lost. All anyone knew was that they were born with one half of their soul, and they were to find the other half.

Their Soulmate.

So everyone could live a long and happy life with their Soulmate. If you hadn't met them by the age of 18, you stopped aging. Aging began again, only when the Soulmates came together.

Signs the Souls had rejoined? There was a feeling of electricity that came between the two people, that feeling of the Souls intertwining again. It was universal knowledge that if you met anyone and you felt the shock. That was it, you had found your other half.

As a way to protect the Soul's other half, once the Souls came together, the owners could feel each other's major pain and distress. Car accident? Could be felt. Choking on smoke in a burning building. Could be felt. Any of these major instances of pain, both owners of the Soul could feel it.

It was up to each and every person to find their Soulmate, and live the life they want.

Sometimes, it wasn't that easy.


	2. Chapter 1: Falling into Your Gravity

Chapter 1: Falling into your Gravity

"A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we're pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we're safe in our own paradise."

— Richard Bach

For two in the afternoon on a Wednesday, the New York subway was packed. All Juliette wanted to do was go into the city and visit the bookstore before she had to be at school. It was looking like, from the number of people on board, she wasn't going to have a whole lot of time to browse.

Juliette sighed as she glanced around. It was like the train was filled with high schoolers. New Yorkers that hadn't met their Soulmate yet. That's one thing she wished would come faster, so she could finally look her age. Looking like she was barely sixteen was one of the downsides, being twenty-five.

When the train jolted to an immediate stop, Juliette held onto the metal bar and heaved another sigh. She was still too far out and her time among the stacks was closing. Juliette felt herself grow more and more anxious but when the train's momentum lurched forward, nearly losing her balance. Her anxiety softened. She would have time.

Five minutes later, the train came to another stop at Union Square. Juliette grinned and gathered up her canvas tote bag and rushed off the train with an excited jog.

The Strand was still open and she had three hours before she had to be back at her University for a seminar she had to write a paper on. Grad school had been her favorite education experience so far, but attending seminars for other majors, and writing papers on them wasn't her favorite experience.

Juliette opened the heavy door to the Strand and was immediately hit with the smell of paper. Old books, new books, the whole lot. She waved at the cashier who seemed to know the brunette by now. She came nearly every day since she started at NYU seven years ago. She put her headphones on and started up the stairs, looking for the young adult section. She had a couple of new books in mind that she wanted.

The young adult section on the third floor seemed to continue for miles. As the shelves expanded in front front of her, Juliette carefully traced her fingers along the spines, browsing the last names as she searched for a specific title. .

Avyard, French, Jackson, Newton, Riordan, Smith… she wasn't finding it. Vega! The Merciless IV. She picked up the matte black hardcover and turned it around, looking for the blurb on the back. Nothing. She cursed the publisher and opened the book, seeing it on the inside end page. The worst page for it, honestly.

Reading it, she nodded to herself and slipped the book into the crook of her arm as she continued browsing.

After what only felt like five minutes, Juliette's iPhone dinged. She looked down and saw the calendar app telling her she was forty-five minutes away from the beginning of the seminar.

Had she really spent the last two hours browsing the stacks?

"Fuck," she cursed, setting down the book she was looking at but not loving, and rushed back down to the front desk, scrambling to not drop the five books she had picked out while she rummaged for her wallet. The cashier smiled at her.

"Find everything you needed?" she asked. Juliette nodded as she sat the books on the counter, struggling to find the bright pink wallet she always kept in the front pocket of her backpack.

"Always do, Linda," She gave the cashier a bright smile. After the books were scanned, she paid quickly, shoved all of her books into her backpack and practically ran out the building, back to the subway. It was a short ride from Union Square to the NYU campus, or a slightly longer walk, but she didn't feel like lugging her now very heavy backpack further than she had to.

After scanning her subway card and finding a seat, Juliette relaxed. She was going to make it on time and with time to spare to read in the theater. She knew it was one stop over, but she was lazy.

The subway slowly came to a halt when it came into the new station. Juliette grabbed her bag and practically ran out once more, scanned her card as she went and came out on campus.

Now to find the building.

She was distracted with her phone before she bumped into someone else. It felt like they had electricity running through their connected bodies. Jules looked up but only saw a head and a suit from the back.

Juliette rolled her eyes. It was probably one of those assholes that had a play zapper on them and didn't realize they'd touched her. Checking her phone, she double checked the building number and started walking in that direction.

Hawke Building was only a few feet away, and it seemed like everyone was waiting outside for the lecture. Typical, people never went into the lecture hall until the last minute. With a shrug of her shoulders, Juliette walked in and found a seat in the comfy, plush seat and dug out her book from her bag. Workers were setting up on the stage, but it was just enough white noise that she could focus perfectly.

However, her moment of solitude ended, as everyone began filling in behind her. Looking down at her phone, she saw that there was not much time before Mr. Stark was supposed to appear on stage. She was reading this already, but she pulled out her iPad and opened the word processor so she could begin typing what she heard, reviewing his lecture.

When the lights dimmed, she glanced up and noticed a video playing. It looked like Tony Stark, no younger than he looked now. That wasn't saying much, he was one of the few big celebrities that hadn't aged past their 18th birthday. He hadn't found his Soulmate yet, and the media gave him hell for it.

He was talking to who she assumed was his parents, but Jules wasn't sure. She'd only seen pictures of Howard Stark as a teenager, never as an adult. She didn't know who the women was either. She played the piano as the video Tony argued with his parents, constantly making sarcastic comments. It seemed like a normal family video until his mother got up from the piano and grabbed her purse.

"And you're going to miss us," she said, stroking his hair gently. "You know what's about to happen," Who she assumed was a younger Tony Stark, pouted and looked away from his mother. She continued.

"Say something. Do it now or you'll regret it." She stared at him until he looked up and met his mother's eyes, then looked back at his father who was walking back into the room.

"I love you, Dad" He looked back at his mother. "And I know you did the best you could". His mother kissed his cheek before pulling away, and left with her husband. All you could see was past Stark staring after his parents, and current Stark, looking at the ground in the very back of the room. Current Stark looked up at the audience and finally spoke.

"That's how I wish it happened," he said, walking toward the front of the stage. "Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or BARF," he cringed. "That acronym sucks," he said as he stuck his hands in his pockets and continued forward. "Is an extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus. It's a way of clearing out traumatic memories, and dealing with trauma. It doesn't change the fact they never made it to the airport that night, nor does it change how horribly I dealt with their death. But it does make the pill much easier to swallow," he came up to the podium in front of the stage, as the scene seemed to clear out in front of them, leaving just Tony Stark on the stage. Current Tony Stark.

"This technology is still very new and very up and coming." He explained and it felt like everyone around Jules was engrossed with what the billionaire was saying. Juliette didn't really care. She was just taking notes to get the paper done and get a good grade. She had to maintain her 4.0. It would kill her if she didn't.

"I'd like to have a volunteer come up and give another example of BARF," he said, and it was like the entire hall's hands went up. Everyone except Juliette's. She slumped in her seat, the light of her iPad shining on her face. She was in the very back corner, and she was sure that was gonna lead him to call on someone besides her. That was until she heard him call her out.

"You, back right corner. With the computer. Ignoring everything I'm saying. I want you," Stark said into the microphone. Jules watched as everyone in the theater looked back at her. Hundreds of eyes seeing her quickly shake her head, an expression of pure anxiety on her features

"No, no. I'm not an engineering major just observing," she called, but he seemed to talk over her.

"Come on, you'll be fine," he said, motioning for her to come up.

She let out a shaky sigh, set her iPad in her backpack and threw it over her shoulder. Jules made it back down the aisle to the stairs, walking until she reached the stage. She chose the stairs that were on his side, where the podium was.

Juliette's entire body trembled as she walked up the three stairs. Tony must have noticed, because he gave her a half smile, or was it a half smirk?

He offered his hand to her.

"Hey it's oh-" he stopped, when her hand touched his. It was like a surge of electricity ran through them both. Juliette's eyes widened, looking up at him.

She quickly shook her head in denial.

"No…"


	3. Chapter 2: Take Your Time

Chapter 2: Take Your Time

 **It's delicious to have people adore you, but it's exhausting, too. Particularly when your own feelings don't match theirs. ~ Tasha Alexander, A Fatal Waltz**

"No…" She breathed, shaking her head, starting to back off the stage. She was not about to have her soulmate be the infamous Tony Stark.

Not today.

He caught her arm as she went to turn around, and she felt the same tingling in her arm, where his hand was.

"Come on, we can figure that out later. Let's just finish this," he whispered, covering the mic he was wearing on his lapel. Jules caught his chocolate brown eyes and sighed, shaking her head again.

"Fine," she muttered, ripping her arm back. She could still feel the electricity buzzing through her arm, What would her parents think when she started aging? It wasn't fair.

Tony Stark? He was a playboy.

Tony lead Jules to the acrylic stool that was in the middle of the stage, hand out to help her get onto it. Being only 5'1", she was thankful for the help.

Even if it was from Tony.

She sat and made herself comfortable before he brought over the electrodes that appeared to be connected to wires of some sort.

'That must be BARF' she thought to herself. She hadn't thought about the potential consequences of being Stark's guinea pig. Not until they started placing the electrodes on her head and his assistant told her to start thinking of her most traumatic experience.

No, that experience was something she wanted to never think about again. But the minute she started thinking about it, the events of that day came flooding back. Except this time, it was playing out in front of her for the entire theater for everyone to see.

"Jamey! I told Ellie I'd play hide and seek with her, but I can't find her!" The ten-year-old Juliette called from the living room. Her babysitter, walked out from the other room, appearing from around the corner.

"Have you checked outside? She's probably in the woods somewhere. You know your little sister." The babysitter patted baby Juliette's head before walking out of view again.

Baby Juliette turned and started to walk out the French doors that lead onto their patio and pool area, a small blonde head, floating face down in the pool.

But, who was in the pool? An unexpected thrill of fear chilled down her spine.

Ellie.

With a scream, the dream sequence faded.

Juliette's heart was aching as she was trying to keep herself from crying. The last thing she ever wanted to do was relive that moment. She looked up and over to see Tony Stark shedding a few tears.

Was it because he could feel the same ache in his heart that she did?

Or did he just pity her for what she'd gone through?

Jules would never know.

He nodded before coming back to her from the podium. Jules really didn't want to be a part of this experiment anymore. She didn't want to see Ellie like that, she didn't want any of it.

That buzz of electricity came back, and Juliette looked up, meeting Tony's eyes again. He seemed distant now, and his eyes were red and puffy. He had felt the effects of what she just relived, alright.

Serves him right for forcing her to relive the worst day of her life, all over again.

"I'm sorry," she heard him whisper.

Jules gave a hesitant nod, eyes traveling back to her lap. She just wanted to get off of this stage. She wanted to be done.

Tony turned away from her and back to the crowd. "Now, BARF is going to replay the scene, but this time, altering the memory so it's not as traumatic for her," he explained, moving out of the way for the projector to start again.

Starting the story over.

Now, it was back further. Ellie had told Jules that she wanted to play hide and seek, but with a quick glance at the pool outside, Jules grabbed her baby sister's small arm.

"Let's stay inside, alright Elle? We don't want to get in trouble from Mom and Dad," she said. The three year old's eyes lit up and nodded with a smile, before running off to go hide somewhere in the house.

It was like a weight was lifted off of Juliette's chest.

She'd replayed the same scenario in her head thousands of times.

If only she had told her sister they needed to play inside. She'd done it dozens of times before that day, but the one time she didn't, ended in tragedy

There was a clapping in the audience, and she wasn't sure if they were clapping out of pity for what happened to her, or because Tony's invention seemed to work.

Jules slipped off the chair and Tony motioned to her from the other side of the stage.

"Another round of applause for…" the billionaire trailed off, realizing he didn't know her name.

"Juliette." Jules said, knowing only the very front row could hear her as well as Tony.

"Juliette!" he finished, smiling at her with that damned playboy smile Stark loved to show off. She nodded once as a thank you and started off stage. She felt Tony try to stop her one last time, but she kept walking.

She didn't have the emotional stability to continue dealing with Stark. And he was supposed to be her Soulmate.

Sliding back into her seat, Jules pulled her iPad back out and continued to take notes on Tony's speech. As much as she felt the need to run back to her apartment on Long Island, this paper needed to get done and it was not going to if she didn't stay for the entire speech.

Tony finished, telling the students that all of their projects were officially funded by the Stark Foundation, causing the theater to erupt into applause.

Jules slumped more in her seat, not an engineering major in the slightest.

Once everyone had filed out of the theater, Jules was still in her seat, trying to finish taking down her notes from the seminar, when she could feel the presence of someone standing over her.

Juliette looked up and saw Tony, causing her to look back at her phone.

"Look," she started, beginning to pack up all of her stuff. "We don't have to talk about this. It was probably just a mistake. You can move on with your life, and I'll move on with mine" she said, not making eye contact with the taller man as she stood up.

"Juliette, you and I both know it doesn't work that way," he frowned down at her as she threw her heavy backpack over her shoulder.

"Well, you never know" she retorted, sliding past him.

She didn't want anything to do with Tony Stark, and she was sure that he wasn't going to want anything to do with her.

Stopping at the entrance, she glanced back at him.

"Plus, you don't even know me," she said, watching him purse his lips into a thin, frustrated line.

With one last look at the man that was supposed to be her Soulmate, she turned and walked out of the lecture hall.

She didn't look back.


End file.
